/  .  2-0  .  IS'. 


^  tut  llic<»lagrai  ^ 


PRINCETON,  N.  J.  ^jj 


Purchased   by  the   Hamill    Missionary   Fund. 


BV  625  .T5  1914 
Tippy,  Worth  Marion,  1867 
The  church,  a  community 
force 


LIBRARY 

OF   CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS 


Volumes  Issued 

The  Church  a  Community  Force.      By  Worth  M.    Tippy 
The  Church  at  the  Center.      By  Warren  H.  Wilson 
The  Making  of  a  Country  Parish.      By  Harlow  S,  Mills 


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JAN  20  1915 


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THE  CHURCH 
A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 


^^ 


A  Story  of  the  Development  of  the 
Community  Relations  of  Epworth 
Memorial  Church,  Cleveland,  Ohio 


BY 


WORTH   M.  TIPPY 

PASTOR 


NEW    YORK 
Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada 
1914 


Copyright,  1914,  by 

Missionary  education  Movement  of  the 

United  States  and  Canada 


TO    MY    FATHER 

OREN  TIPPY 

STRONG  AND  HIGH-MINDED 

AND  TO  MY  MOTHER 

MARY   ISABEL    TIPPY 

DEVOTED  AND  SELF-FORGETFUL 


CONTENTS 

HAPTER 

Foreword  .       .       .       . 

PAGE 

ix 

I 

Preconceptions 

I 

II 

What  Are  Community  Rela- 

tions?      

4 

III 

The  Church  as  I  Found  It  . 

7 

IV 

Pastors  Must  Lead  . 

13 

V 

The    Social    Awakening    of 

the  Church  .... 

20 

VI 

Pushing  Out  Social  Workers 

29 

VII 

The  Church  and  Organized 

Charities       .... 

39 

7111 

A  New  Attitude  toward  City 

Authorities  .... 

44 

IX 

Community  Campaigns  . 

50 

X 

The  Church  and  Its  Neigh- 

borhood        ..... 

56 

XI 

Public  Morality     . 

69 

XII 

Afterword        .... 

74 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Epworth  Memorial  Church   Frontispiece 

Epworth  Memorial  Church  Office     i6 

Epworth  Memorial  Church  and  Its 
Relation  to  the  Welfare  Move- 
ments OF  THE  City  ....     34 

The  Epworth  Neighborhood     .       •     '58 


FOREWORD 

When  the  invitation  to  write  this  book 
was  issued  to  Dr.  Tippy,  he  was  reluctant 
to  attempt  the  story  of  the  work  that  had 
been  his  very  life  for  so  many  years. 
The  achievements  of  Epworth  Memorial 
Church  in  Cleveland  are  not  for  the 
glory  of  either  the  people  or  their  min- 
isters. Epworth  is  a  working  plant 
adapting  itself  to  the  needs  of  its  com- 
munity. It  has  gained  its  life  by  los- 
ing it. 

It  seemed,  therefore,  quite  contrary  to 
the  spirit  of  the  whole  enterprise  to  ask 
for  a  statement  for  the  public  of  what 
had  been  done  at  Epworth,  and  for  the 
secret  of  her  growing  influence.  But  Dr. 
Tippy  was  finally  persuaded  that  a  sim- 
ple, straightforward  account  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  community  relations  of 
Epworth  Memorial  might  prove  helpful 
[xi] 


FOREWORD 


to  other  churches  that  are  desirous  of  re- 
adjusting their  message  and  method  to 
present-day  social  conditions.  In  the 
spirit,  therefore,  of  Epworth's  service  for 
the  common  good,  this  story  is  told.  The 
invitation  carried  the  request  also  that 
the  account  be  told  in  the  first  person,  as 
if  the  minister  were  reviewing  his  experi- 
ences to  a  company  of  personal  friends. 

Dr.  Tippy's  preconception  of  what  a 
church  ought  to  be,  his  analysis  of  the 
church  as  he  found  it,  the  social  awaken- 
ing of  the  church,  the  development  of 
social  workers  among  the  church-mem- 
bers, the  organization  of  its  Charities 
Council,  the  new  cooperation  with  city 
officials,  the  opening  of  the  church  as  a 
neighborhood  center,  and  the  uplifting 
of  the  standards  of  public  morality — the 
story  of  a  nine  years'  experience — make 
a  most  constructive  and  stimulating  docu- 
ment marking  a  new  path  for  the  church 
as  a  social  force. 

Epworth  has  not  neglected  her  spirit- 
[xli] 


FOREWORD 


ual  functions.  These  are  really  her 
greatest  power.  They  have  never  been 
put  to  one  side  for  social  work.  Dr. 
Tippy's  theory  has  been  that  spiritual 
work  has  its  greatest  power  when  tied 
up  with  heavy  social  responsibility,  and 
conversely  that  social  work  has  its  great- 
est power  of  regeneration  when  associated 
with  spiritual  activities. 

Editors. 


[  xIII  ] 


PRECONCEPTIONS 

WHEN  I  came  to  Cleveland,  nine 
years  ago,  it  was  with  positive  con- 
victions as  to  what  a  church  ought  to  be 
in  relation  to  its  community.  These  con- 
victions had  begun  back  in  the  university 
and  had  been  clarified  by  the  experience 
of  several  pastorates. 

I  had  a  conception  of  a  church  filled 
with  the  spiritual  earnestness  and  living 
faith  of  the  apostolic  Church,  but  planted 
squarely  on  the  earth,  with  its  outlook 
upon  the  oncoming  Christian  civilization; 
a  church  open  to  truth;  a  church  unselfish, 
fearless,  free;  a  church  sympathetic  to  the 
life  and  achievements  of  humanity,  and 

[I] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

organized  as  a  fighting  unit  of  the  new  so- 
cial order.  I  saw  it  broken  away  from 
the  parish  selfishness  which  has  been  so 
long  the  besetting  weakness  of  American 
churches,  and,  with  generous  sympathies 
and  alert  vision,  carrying  the  community 
in  its  heart,  alive  to  all  that  makes  for 
the  good  and  happiness  of  its  city  or 
countryside. 

I  had  also  a  strong  assurance  that  here 
lay  the  way  of  the  future,  and  that  some- 
where along  that  way  is  to  come  the  long 
hoped  for  and  prayed  for  spiritual  awak- 
ening. The  real  gospel  of  the  kingdom, 
it  seemed  to  me,  was  not  the  good  news  of 
eternal  salvation  alone,  paramount  as  that 
is,  nor  was  it  the  social  transformation  by 
itself,  but  the  two  fused  together  in  a  new 
passion  of  love.  This  I  was  convinced 
was  to  be  the  outlook  and  spirit  of  the 
church  which   was   to   bless   the   world, 

[2] 


PRECONCEPTIONS 


which  was  sure  to  have  the  respect  and 
affection  of  the  people,  and  I  was  con- 
fident that  once  realized  it  would  de- 
velop unusual  power. 


[3] 


II 

WHAT  ARE  COMMUNITY  RELATIONS? 

IT  is  well  at  the  beginning  of  this  story 
to  ask  the  questions:  What  is  a  com- 
munity, and,  what  are  community  rela- 
tions? lest  these  living  and  significant 
words  become  abstractions,  lifeless  and 
impotent,  as  has  happened  to  many  an- 
other phrase  of  the  social  awakening. 

A  community  is  a  group  of  people  liv- 
ing together.  It  may  be  thousands  con- 
gregated in  a  city,  or  hundreds  living 
pleasantly  in  a  village,  or  the  scattered 
families  of  a  countryside  which  find  their 
common  social  life  in  the  same  school- 
house  or  the  same  church,  or  whose  young 
people  meet  together  socially  in  one  an- 
other's homes.     Community  relations  are 

[4] 


COMMUNITY  RELATIONS 

primarily  human  relations,  carrying  with 
them  all  the  force  which  inheres  in  the 
association  of  human  beings. 

But  a  community  is  something  still 
larger.  In  the  case  of  a  municipality,  it 
includes  all  the  vast  interests  of  a  city's 
government;  its  industrial  organization — 
factories,  stores,  transportation,  chamber 
of  commerce,  trade  associations;  public 
schools,  colleges,  and  private  educational 
institutions;  the  forces  of  religion;  the 
various  organizations  by  which  society 
combats  disease,  vice,  crime,  poverty, 
neglected  children,  broken  homes,  and  by 
which  it  undertakes  constructively  to  se- 
cure social  well-being. 

But  these  also  have  their  end  in  the 
happiness,  welfare,  and  opportunity  of 
individual  men,  women,  and  children. 
Their  objectives  are  a  part  of  the  same 
great    objectives    for    which    religion    is 

[5] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

striving.  No  social  agency  can  ever  be- 
come a  machine  to  people  of  heart  and 
imagination.  How  significant  then  to 
bring  a  church  into  closer  relations  to 
these  great  interests,  to  make  it  a  power 
in  the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
upon  the  earth! 


[6] 


Ill 

THE  CHURCH  AS  I  FOUND  IT 

TJ^EW  men  ever  entered  upon  a  pas- 
-■-  torate  with  better  opportunities,  or 
with  everything  more  completely  made 
ready.  I  found  in  Epworth  Memorial, 
nine  years  ago,  a  strong  symmetrically  de- 
veloped church  with  slightly  over  a  thou- 
sand members.  It  had  a  fine  building, 
thoroughly  well  conceived,  representing 
an  investment  of  $150,000.  The  indebted- 
ness had  been  reduced  to  about  $40,000, 
which  was  soon  paid. 

I  cannot  speak  too  highly  of  the  work 
of  my  immediate  predecessor,  the  Rev. 
Ward  Beecher  Pickard,  who  had  been 
pastor  of  the  church  for  nine  years. 
He  had  shown  rare  administrative  ability 

[7] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

and  had  gathered  about  him  an  unusual 
group  of  men  and  women,  loyal,  capable, 
and  aggressive.  He  had  created  a  church 
office,  a  good  business  system,  and  a 
salaried  staff  of  four  whole-time  and  one 
part-time  workers,  exclusive  of  very  able 
musicians.  The  main  departments  of  the 
church  were  strong  and  the  institution 
was  known  and  respected  throughout  the 
city.  Its  community  relations  were  not 
highly  developed,  but  it  had  a  community 
outlook.  Intellectually  also.  Dr.  Pickard 
had  carried  the  thinking  of  the  congrega- 
tion over  upon  a  scientific  basis,  without 
sacrificing  its  spiritual  power. 

In  short,  the  church  was  ready  for  a 
forward  movement,  and  it  had  been  so 
well  conceived  and  so  carefully  developed 
that  there  was  nothing  to  tear  down.  It 
was  only  necessary  to  strengthen  certain 
departments  of  the  work,  to  enlarge 
[8] 


THE  CHURCH  AS  I  FOUND  IT 

others,  to  push  the  membership  campaign, 
to  add  a  few  more  departments,  and  to 
relate  the  church  in  a  thoroughgoing  way 
to  its  neighborhood  and  to  the  larger  life 
of  Cleveland.  That  of  course  was  a  diffi- 
cult task,  and  doubly  so  in  the  midst  of  a 
changing  parish  and  a  rapidly  shifting 
membership.  But  it  was  a  challenge 
which  tested  to  the  limit  the  principles 
upon  which  the  work  developed. 

The  church  itself  is  located  in  the 
center  of  the  lower  east  side  of  Cleve- 
land. It  verges  upon  a  fine  residential 
section  on  the  east  and  upon  a  boarding- 
house  section  on  the  west.  Originally  it 
was  in  the  heart  of  the  residential  section 
of  the  east  side.  Nine  years  ago  it  was 
semi-downtown  and  the  exodus  of  the 
population  to  the  far  east  side  and  to  the 
Heights  had  begun. 

In   these   nine   years   a   transformation 

[9] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

had  been  worked  in  that  part  of  the  city. 
The  church  is  now  in  the  center  of  a 
rooming-house  district  stretching  west  to 
the  business  center  of  Cleveland.  To  the 
south  the  population  is  almost  solidly 
Jewish  and  colored,  with  a  recent  ap- 
pearance of  Greek  and  Italian  families, 
and  the  better  Jewish  families  have 
swarmed  over  the  east  side  for  two  and 
three  miles  east  of  the  church.  This  ter- 
ritory is  now  a  thorough  mixture  of  the 
original  population  and  Jewish  families. 

Those  who  constituted  the  original 
membership  of  the  church  have  now 
largely  moved  to  the  new  residential  sec- 
tions of  the  Heights  or  to  East  Cleveland, 
or  to  the  Wade  Park  and  Glenville  sec- 
tions of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city. 
The  actual  center  of  the  membership  of 
the  church  is  now  three  miles  northeast  of 
the  church  building.  The  center  of  the 
[lo] 


THE  CHURCH  AS  I  FOUND  IT 

Sunday-school,  which  has  an  enrolment  of 
1,100,  is  not  far  east  of  the  church,  and 
the  membership  itself  has  been  re-en- 
trenching south  and  west  by  careful  parish 
methods ;  for  in  that  large  territory,  which 
was  once  solidly  Protestant,  there  are  still 
many  Protestant  families.  They  are  of  a 
character  also  which  very  much  needs  the 
ministries  which  the  church  has  to  offer. 

The  development  of  Epworth  during 
the  last  nine  years,  its  broadening  work 
and  rapid  growth,  has  been  in  the  face 
of  this  situation.  The  membership  losses 
have  been  heavy  and  would  have  been 
disheartening,  except  for  the  larger  gain 
and  the  missionary  spirit  of  the  church, 
which  makes  it  a  joy  to  work  for  people 
even  though  their  stay  in  the  church  is 
often  brief.  We  formed  a  habit  of  in- 
stant and  intensive  action,  doing  all  the 
good  we  could  and  offering  every  possi- 

[II] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

ble  opportunity  for  service,  and  then 
sending  on  these  Epworthians  with  our 
blessing,  cherishing  the  hope  that  they 
would  become  missionaries  of  the  ideals 
and  methods  for  which  the  church  has 
stood. 


[12] 


IV 

PASTORS  MUST  LEAD 

'T^WO  important  considerations  lie  at 
-*-  the  foundation  of  the  community 
relations  of  a  church.  The  first  is  a 
conviction  that  these  relations  are  as 
truly  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  church 
as  are  its  other  activities.  They  are  not 
matters  of  indifference  or  choice  that  may 
be  taken  on  or  omitted  without  unfaith- 
fulness to  the  gospel.  They  are  funda- 
mental and  are  to  be  planned  for  and 
worked  out  with  great  patience  and  ear- 
nestness, and  the  sacrifices  involved  are 
to  be  made  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  second  is,  that,  if  ever  a  church  is 
to  have  a  community  spirit,  if  it  is  to 
become    a    community    force,    its    pastor 

[13] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

must  lead  it  there.  Theoretically  laymen 
might  carry  through  the  program  inde- 
pendently of  the  cooperation  of  their  pas- 
tor; but  as  a  working  fact  the  pastor 
is  the  key  man.  If  he  does  not  lead  his 
church,  it  will  not  go.  And  if  the  pas- 
tor is  to  lead,  it  is  necessary  for  him  to 
become  personally  involved  in  the  social 
movement  of  his  community.  He  must 
know  its  uplift  forces  and  its  social  work- 
ers, and,  in  order  to  know  and  to  lead, 
he  himself  must  be  one  of  them. 

The  first  problem,  therefore,  at  Ep- 
worth,  when  we  began  to  push  the  church 
out  into  the  community,  was  for  me  to 
know  the  city,  and  to  acquire  my  own 
citizenship  by  getting  my  personal  touch 
with  its  social  movement.  To  accom- 
plish that  it  was  necessary  to  go  to  work 
down  in  the  city.  There  is  no  other 
way  to  the  heart  of  the  need  of  a  city 

[14] 


PASTORS  MUST  LEAD 

and  to  the  confidence  of  the  men  and 
women  who  are  working  at  the  great 
problems  of  modern  society.  To  attempt 
this  relationship  by  sensational  methods, 
when  one  first  comes  to  a  city,  is  pre- 
sumptuous and  is  almost  sure  to  fail  of 
its  object.  One  must  work  humbly  and 
patiently. 

I  once  heard  Edward  Devine  say  that 
ministers,  as  a  class,  are  not  considered 
good  social  workers  on  account  of  the  fact 
that  they  are  not,  as  a  rule,  dependable 
upon  committees.  His  words,  casually 
spoken,  came  with  something  of  a  shock 
to  me,  but  later  became  a  great  stimulus 
to  thoroughgoing  service.  I  will  not  now 
accept  a  place  in  an  organization  when  I 
cannot  give  it  adequate  service. 

By  a  gradual  course  of  events  I  became 
involved  in  the  social  movement  of  Cleve- 
land; with  the  Associated  Charities;  with 
[IS] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  first  on  its 
Housing  committee  and  later  on  its 
Recreation  committee;  with  the  Humane 
Society,  as  chairman  of  its  Child  Pro- 
tection committee,  one  of  its  directors, 
and  a  member  of  the  Executive  commit- 
tee. The  moving  picture  investigation, 
w^hich  resulted  in  a  general  clean-up  and 
finally  in  a  public  censorship,  began  in 
our  Children's  committee,  and  the  West- 
ern Reserve  Child  Caring  Conference  had 
close  relations  to  the  same  society.  I  was 
chairman  of  the  organizing  committee  of 
the  Federated  Churches,  and,  through  my 
membership  on  the  Social  Betterment 
committee  of  the  Ministers'  Association, 
which  began  the  dance  hall  investigation, 
became  a  member  of  the  Dance  Hall 
Commission.  I  served  as  president  of 
the  Federated  Churches  for  one  year  in 
its  formative  period,  during  which  time 
[i6] 


PASTORS  MUST  LEAD 

it  was  necessary  to  disconnect  myself  with 
other  responsibilities  down  in  the  city. 
My  interest  in  civic  matters  led  to  my 
becoming  one  of  the  directors  of  the 
newly  organized  City  Club,  a  member  of 
the  Mayor's  committee  of  citizens  ap- 
pointed to  select  the  Charter  Commis- 
sioners, and  a  member  of  the  joint  com- 
mittee representing  the  city  government, 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  private  rec- 
reational interests,  in  devising  a  scheme 
of  recreation  for  the  entire  city.  These 
have  involved  heavy  responsibilities,  but 
they  have  not  all  come  at  once,  although 
sometimes  they  have  bunched  to  a  tempo- 
rary sacrifice  of  the  church. 

One  speaks  of  such  matters  with  diffi- 
dence, but  they  serve  to  illustrate  the  im- 
portance of  the  pastor's  leadership,  and 
of  his  being  personally  involved  in  the 
social  movement.    For  myself  such  work 

[17] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

is  an  inspiring  religious  duty  and  an  obli- 
gation involved  in  my  citizenship.  But 
the  knowledge  of  Cleveland  acquired  in 
the  process  was  absolutely  essential  to  the 
development  of  the  community  relations 
of  my  church;  and  the  associations  formed 
enabled  us  later  to  bring  the  resources  of 
the  city  to  bear  upon  the  cases  that  were 
being  handled  by  our  Charities  Council. 
We  knew  where  to  go  for  help,  and  we 
had  the  confidence  of  the  organization  to 
which  we  made  appeal. 

Pastors  often  hesitate  to  assume  such 
responsibilities,  fearing  that  the  time  re- 
quired will  cut  into  pulpit  preparations, 
and  will  also  limit  their  ability  to  min- 
ister as  pastors  to  their  own  people.  This 
may  easily  happen :  but  it  may  be  avoided 
either  by  a  strict  limitation  of  one's  out- 
side work,  or  by  the  congregation  sur- 
rounding its  pastor  with  sufficient  salaried 
[i8] 


PASTORS  MUST  LEAD 

assistance,  or  by  both.  One  should  also 
say  that  the  knowledge  of  life  and  affairs 
acquired  in  such  social  work  is  an  in- 
valuable preparation  for  the  highest  pul- 
pit efficiency. 


[19] 


V 


THE  SOCIAL  AWAKENING  OF  THE 
CHURCH 

T  T  is  possible  for  a  pastor  with  a  loyal 
-■■  church  to  accomplish  much  by  him- 
self, for  he  has  large  resources  at  his 
command.  His  pulpit  offers  a  great  op- 
portunity. He  has  individuals  who  are 
ready  to  back  up  his  work,  and  his 
church  lends  an  influence  to  his  efforts 
irrespective  of  its  direct  cooperation  with 
them.  But  no  church  ever  realizes  its 
great  power  for  the  common  good  until 
it  also  is  in  the  fight;  and  no  pastor  can 
feel  satisfied  until  his  people  are  with 
him  heart  and  soul  by  their  own  con- 
victions. 
That  was  the  real  and  difficult  problem 

[20] 


SOCIAL  AWAKENING 

at  Epworth;  for,  while  there  have  always 
been  many  in  the  congregation  with  the 
new  vision,  and  while  the  church  itself 
had  a  generous  spirit,  yet  my  friends  used 
to  say  to  me,  "  It  is  not  your  church  that 
is  doing  this  work,  it  is  you  yourself."  I 
realized  that  this  was  partly  true  and 
that  my  real  problem,  if  the  church  was  to 
realize  its  maximum  of  power  for  the 
city,  was  to  undertake  an  education  of  the 
convictions  of  the  church  which  should 
gradually  lift  it  over  to  the  new  point  of 
view. 

The  work  was  begun  with  no  very  posi- 
tive assurance  of  how  far  it  could  be 
carried  and  no  very  clear  realization  of 
the  possible  power  of  an  educational 
propaganda  in  a  church.  I  presume  the 
most  positive  factors  at  the  beginning 
were  that  my  own  mind  looked  steadily 
out  upon  the  city  as  a  whole  and  that  my 

[21] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

own  emotional  nature  was  saturated  with 
the  community  spirit.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances all  one's  teaching  is  colored  by 
the  consciousness  of  these  larger  relation- 
ships. 

One  dislikes  excessive  attention  to  social 
questions  from  the  pulpit.  Such  questions 
raise  difficult  problems  of  administration 
and  distressing  problems  of  human  need, 
which  give  little  relief  from  week-day 
burdens  and  perplexities  to  the  worshiper 
in  a  service.  The  supreme  message  of  the 
church  is  to  the  inner  life  and  to  personal 
morality.  The  problem  is  to  preach  a 
balanced  gospel,  to  discuss  social  ques- 
tions with  inspiration,  to  keep  ever  fore- 
most their  human  meanings,  and  to  see 
that  every  service  carries  the  atmosphere 
of  the  presence  of  God  as  its  first 
objective. 

But  social  questions  are  as  truly  a  part 

[  22  ] 


SOCIAL  AWAKENING 

of  the  gospel  as  the  message  to  the  inner 
life,  and  I  have  carried  them  resolutely 
into  the  pulpit.  I  have  the  more  often, 
however,  chosen  to  bring  them  in  by  the 
vs^ay,  in  the  midst  of  other  messages,  and 
to  give  to  every  service  the  consciousness 
of  these  vaster  multitudes,  and  these 
larger  tasks  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  educational  propaganda,  which 
finally  changed  the  spirit  of  the  church, 
was  carried  into  the  various  organizations 
of  the  church,  particularly  into  the  Men's 
Club,  the  young  people's  society,  the 
Sunday-school  classes,  the  instruction 
classes  for  converts,  and  the  clubs  for 
boys  and  girls. 

For  example,  in  the  instruction  classes, 
which  are  in  effect  confirmation  classes, 
converts  old  and  young  are  taught  public 
spirit,  personal  and  social  service,  and  the 
necessity  of  taking  one's  share  in  the  so- 

[23] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

cial  regeneration.  Individual  classes  and 
clubs  study  city  problems  by  visitation  of 
settlements,  playgrounds,  city  institutions, 
and  by  the  use  of  stereopticon  pictures. 
Certain  meetings  of  the  Men's  Club  are 
given  over  to  community  problems  having 
immediate  importance,  and  the  same  plan 
is  carried  into  the  devotional  meetings  of 
the  young  people's  society. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these 
developments  vs^as  the  organization,  in  the 
winter  of  1913-14,  of  an  adult  Sunday- 
school  class  in  Community  Problems,  un- 
der the  leadership  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Winans, 
Secretary  to  the  department  of  Welfare 
in  the  city  government.  This  class  took 
up  the  study  of  city  problems  from  the 
point  of  view  of  their  influence  upon  the 
home,  and  it  has  also  undertaken  definite 
expressional  work.  For  example,  when 
the  question  of  unemployment  was  up  for 

[24] 


SOCIAL  AWAKENING 

consideration,  three  members  of  the  class, 
experienced  social  workers,  made  an  ex- 
haustive study  of  the  state  employment 
bureau,  which  had  taken  over  the  problem 
of  unemployment  for  the  city,  but  which 
had  proved  inefficient.  Their  findings 
were  forwarded  to  the  state  commission 
and  became  the  basis  for  a  reorganization 
of  the  office. 

The  church  has  also  been  powerfully 
educated  by  getting  into  the  fight;  by  its 
members  taking  places  on  boards  and 
committees  of  the  great  social  organiza- 
tions of  the  city;  by  participating  in  pub- 
lic campaigns,  such  as  the  bond  issue  for 
playgrounds,  and  the  new  Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium  at  the  Cooley  Farms;  by  the 
growth  of  the  church  as  a  social  center  for 
its  neighborhood;  by  the  outreach  of  its 
charities. 

Another  influential  factor  in  the  awak- 

[25] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

ening  of  the  church  was  found  in  the 
Epworth  Outlook,  our  weekly  church  pa- 
per. This  periodical  is  newly  written 
each  week,  has  a  circulation  of  one  thou- 
sand copies,  and  is  self-supporting.  It 
was  decided  to  give  the  general  reading- 
matter  of  the  Outlook  to  the  social  move- 
ment in  Cleveland,  and  for  several  years 
it  was  the  only  paper  of  its  kind  in  the 
city. 

It  is  easily  seen  that  such  activities 
could  not  but  result  in  an  aroused  and  in- 
telligent interest  in  city  affairs.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  one  of  the  greatest  things 
that  have  been  accomplished  at  Epworth 
is  this  very  work.  The  church  is  now 
thoroughly  permeated  by  the  community 
spirit,  and  it  has  been  so  for  so  long  that 
we  take  it  now  as  a  matter  of  course.  The 
main  problem  at  present  is  to  indoctrinate 
the  two  or  three  hundred  new  people  who 

[26] 


SOCIAL  AWAKENING 


enter  the  membership  every  year,  and  the 
young  people  of  the  Sunday-school  as  they 
come  along.  It  is  gratifying  to  find  that 
the  atmosphere  of  the  church  is  able  to 
accomplish  this  result,  in  the  main,  by 
itself. 

The  education  of  the  congregation  has 
taught  us  a  great  lesson.  It  is,  that  it  is 
possible  to  change  the  convictions  of  a 
church  on  important  matters,  sometimes 
almost  to  the  point  of  transformation,  or 
to  arouse  an  interest  in  important  new 
lines  of  work,  by  resolute  educational 
campaigns.  Again  and  again,  after  this 
first  experience  we  have  set  about  pre- 
paring the  people  for  some  forward  move- 
ment; as  for  example,  when  the  new  rec- 
reational and  social  rooms  were  built, 
when  the  church  needed  to  become  a 
greater  force  in  the  connectional  develop- 
ment of  Methodism  in  the  city,  and  finally 

[27] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

when  it  became  necessary  to  double  the 
giving  of  the  congregation  for  current  ex- 
penses over  a  period  of  years  in  order  to 
care  for  its  enlarged  work  and  to  pay 
for  the  new  social  and  recreational  rooms. 


[28] 


VI 
PUSHING  OUT  SOCIAL  WORKERS 

THE  Christian  life  has  a  twofold  out- 
look, that  of  the  inner  life  with  its 
windows  open  heavenward,  and  that  of 
Christian  service  with  its  windows  open 
earthward.  Ideally,  every  follower  of 
Christ  would  be  in  the  service  of  hu- 
manity and  a  living  church  would  be  a 
church  of  workers.  It  is  not  possible, 
however,  for  a  church  to  offer  opportu- 
nities for  service  to  all  of  the  members, 
particularly  service  that  is  worth  the 
strength  and  time  of  busy  people.  It  is  a 
question  whether  insignificant  work,  given 
simply  to  keep  people  busy  or  to  hold 
them,  is  not  wrong. 
But  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  people 

[29] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

trivial  work  in  the  church  when  such 
vital  things  are  to  be  done  outside.  Wel- 
fare work  is  also  God's  work.  It  is  the 
second  great  commandment  put  into  ac- 
tion. It  is  better,  therefore,  to  let  the 
church-members  swarm  out  from  the 
parent  hive  into  the  community. 

Early  in  my  pastorate  I  began  sys- 
tematically to  push  out  workers  from  the 
church  into  the  social  movement  of  Cleve- 
land. I  did  this  by  talking  about  it  in 
the  pulpit,  by  personal  interviews,  by  as- 
sistance to  organizations  seeking  workers, 
and  by  taking  up  the  matter  in  the  so- 
cieties of  the  church.  This  was  done, 
not  only  at  the  beginning,  but  it  has  been 
steadily  carried  through  all  the  years 
since. 

It  was  necessary  to  guard  the  strength 
of  the  church  by  giving  it  first  considera- 
tion, since  the  church  under  such  a  pro- 

[30] 


SOCIAL  WORKERS 


gram  is  the  fundamental  organization, 
upon  the  power  of  which  depend  the 
number  and  spirit  of  those  who  enter 
social  service.  But  I  have  not  hesitated 
to  urge  persons  who  were  manifestly  fitted 
for  special  forms  of  community  work  to 
give  to  it  practically  all  their  free  time, 
with  the  exception  of  the  hours  devoted 
to  worship. 

I  have  deemed  it  important  to  recog- 
nize this  community  service  as  if  it  were 
a  part  of  the  work  of  the  local  church, 
and  to  consider  these  workers  as,  in  a 
sense,  loaned  to  the  community.  I  have 
sought  to  recognize  and  honor  them  in 
every  way  possible. 

We  have  tried  also  to  make  the  church 
attractive  as  a  place  of  worship,  not  only 
to  these,  but  to  all  social  workers;  and 
it  has  gradually  come  about  that  many 
have  made  their  religious  home  with  us 

[31] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

and  have  found  inspiration  and  happiness 
in  the  friendships  of  the  church.  These 
in  turn  have  helped  to  strengthen  the  con- 
victions and  to  steady  the  vision  of  the 
congregation. 

It  has  been  a  great  joy  to  me  personally 
to  observe  the  social  awakening  of  ca- 
pable persons  who  have  gone  out  from 
the  church  to  give  valuable  service  to 
the  city.  One  fine  woman  became  a  mem- 
ber of  my  staff  as  an  assistant  in  parish 
visitation.  She  gradually  worked  over 
into  poor  relief,  later  became  an  agent 
of  the  Associated  Charities,  and  finally 
passed  to  the  headship  of  an  important 
society.  Another  of  my  young  women  is 
head  worker  of  a  settlement.  A  young 
man  who  came  to  us  from  a  university 
course  entered  the  work  of  the  Associated 
Charities  upon  my  recommendation,  be- 
came its  superintendent,  and  now  holds  a 

[32] 


SOCIAL  WORKERS 


position  of  influence  in  the  Welfare  de- 
partment of  the  city  government. 

In  1912  the  missionary  exposition, 
"The  World  in  Baltimore,"  asked  that 
an  exhibit  be  made  of  the  social  work 
of  the  church,  and  in  particular  that  a 
study  should  be  made  and  charted  of 
these  relationships,  in  workers  and  serv- 
ice, with  the  various  charitable  and  civic 
organizations  of  Cleveland.  I  requested 
two  of  our  experienced  social  workers 
to  make  the  study. 

The  results  were  a  revelation  to  us,  as 
well  as  to  those  who  studied  the  map  and 
the  charts  which  went  with  it.  It  was 
found  that  the  church  was  in  definite 
affiliation  through  salaried  or  volunteer 
workers,  and  usually  in  other  forms  of 
service,  with  forty-one  civic  and  charita- 
ble organizations  of  the  city.  It  was  rep- 
resented  by   forty-two   salaried   workers 

[33] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

and  seventy-two  volunteer  workers,  a 
total  of  one  hundred  and  fourteen.  It  was 
later  discovered  that  the  list  was  incom- 
plete. At  present  the  totals  reach  ap- 
proximately one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
workers  and  a  few  more  institutions. 

It  is  to  be  understood  that  these  work- 
ers are  not  selected  by  the  church,  nor, 
except  in  the  case  of  the  Federated 
Churches,  are  they  official  representatives. 
Paid  workers  are  not  of  course  paid  by 
the  church.  Nor  do  these  lists  include  the 
large  numbers  of  physicians,  teachers,  and 
business  men  whose  vocations  verge  upon 
the  borderland  of  true  social  service. 

But  the  church's  relations  to  the  chari- 
ties of  a  city  should  go  further  than  send- 
ing them  workers,  and  should  extend  to 
financial  support.  This  is  always  difficult 
because  of  the  financial  pressure  which  is 
constantly    brought    to    bear    upon    the 

[34] 


„  1  ,    ,      '}' 

t  \\  T 

.?  -  ■  ^     •> 

V 

• 

1 
'1 

.  ■    1 

t' ' 

* 

1 

XV   o                 M    ;    •           - 

• 

•^,,v-.    • 

<  \\'\ 

' 

\ 

\ 

■» 

SOCIAL  WORKERS 


churches.  It  is  impossible  to  allow  nu- 
merous appeals  for  money  from  the  pulpit 
in  addition  to  those  which  are  necessarily 
involved  in  the  church's  own  budget,  and 
connectional  causes  of  a  philanthropic  and 
missionary  character.  And  yet  these  great 
communal  movements  must  depend  in  the 
main  upon  church  people. 

The  policy  which  we  gradually  worked 
out  is  to  make  the  church  an  educational 
force  for  these  institutions,  both  in  the 
matter  of  informing  the  congregation 
about  them,  and  in  giving  them  support, 
but  to  make  few  public  appeals  for 
money.  It  is  intolerable  for  worshipers 
in  a  church  to  be  continually  approached 
for  money  for  special  causes.  Local 
charities,  reform  organizations.  Christian 
associations,  and  social  organizations  in 
general  should  as  a  rule  go  directly  to 
individuals    and   corporations   through   a 

[35] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

financial  system  of  their  own,  or  through 
a  Federation  of  Charities,  such  as  has  now 
been  established  in  many  cities. 

The  deeper  need  is  an  aroused  and  in- 
telligent public  support,  and  this  the 
church  has  the  power  to  give  and  to  pro- 
mote. In  the  first  place,  few  laymen 
know  much  about  the  local  charities  of 
their  city.  They  do  not  know  which  are 
vital,  which  are  well  managed,  which  are 
inefficient.  They  give  as  they  are  ap- 
proached or  not  at  all. 

Through  the  Epworth  Outlook,  from 
the  pulpit,  and  in  the  various  organiza- 
tions of  the  church,  and  privately,  we 
have  sought  to  supply  this  information 
and  to  arouse  this  sentiment.  The  Out- 
look has  kept  our  people  abreast  of  what 
is  being  done  in  the  city  and  of  the  work 
and  needs  of  its  charities.  The  congrega- 
tion has  been  urged  to  give  generously 

[36] 


SOCIAL  WORKERS 


but  carefully,  with  a  due  sense  of  the 
need  and  importance  of  the  appeals  which 
are  made.  I  have  always  stressed  the 
necessity  of  supporting  the  Associated 
Charities,  since  the  work  of  that  organiza- 
tion is  fundamental  in  a  community  and 
since  it  lacks  the  imaginative  appeal 
which  other  less  necessary  organizations 
are  able  to  make. 

When  certain  charities  have  been  cam- 
paigning for  an  enlarged  budget  possibly 
under  a  scheme  of  reorganization,  as  for 
example  at  one  time  the  Humane  Society 
and  at  another  the  Associated  Charities, 
we  have  given  them  unusual  publicity. 
At  the  same  time  we  have  followed  a 
stifif  policy  with  regard  to  inefficient  or- 
ganizations and  those  whose  methods  we 
could  not  approve;  resisting  all  appeals 
for  help,  quietly  counseling  givers  against 
their  support,  standing  with  the  Commit- 

[37] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

tee  on  Benevolent  Associations  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  when  it  has  refused 
cards  to  particular  organizations. 

The  influence  of  a  single  church  thus 
handled  is  considerable,  but  the  real 
power  of  the  churches  is  never  shown 
until  church  federation  unites  the  congre- 
gations of  a  community  on  the  same  lines 
of  policy.  Then  the  churches  of  a  city 
may  become  the  most  powerful  single 
educational  force  for  the  support  of  its 
charities. 


[38] 


VII 

THE  CHURCH  AND  ORGANIZED 
CHARITIES 

THE  affiliation  of  the  church  with 
many  of  these  charities  was  made 
closer  by  the  organization  of  the  church's 
own  charities.  We  have  believed  with 
deepening  conviction  that  the  brotherli- 
ness  of  the  church  must  inevitably  express 
itself  in  abundant  ministries  of  kindness, 
— to  the  sick,  the  aged,  the  unfortunate, 
and  to  those  in  either  temporary  or  pro- 
longed need. 

It  was  for  a  time  a  question  as  to 
whether  the  care  of  the  poor  and  unfor- 
tunate of  the  congregation  should  be 
turned  over  entirely  to  the  Associated 
Charities,  or  whether  the  church  should 

[39] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

undertake  to  look  after  its  own  cases  of 
need.  We  decided  on  the  latter  course, 
partly  because  the  church  needs  some  such 
concrete  expression  of  the  spirit  of  love  in 
its  own  work,  but  more  because  a  church 
is  able  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  recon- 
struction of  families  certain  extra  and 
powerful  forces.  It  adds  to  the  usual 
constructive  forces  the  influence  of  per- 
sonal religion,  the  strength  of  public  wor- 
ship and  religious  instruction,  the  envi- 
ronment of  a  wholesome  and  ennobling 
social  life  in  natural  age  and  sex  groups, 
in  which  the  members  of  families  in  trou- 
ble are  treated  not  as  dependents  but  as 
friends  and  associates.  In  other  words, 
their  identity  as  dependents  is  lost  in  the 
association  of  hopeful,  vigorous,  inde- 
pendent persons. 

We  therefore  organized  the  Charities 
Council  of  the  church,  under  the  chair- 

[40] 


ORGANIZED  CHARITIES 

manship  of  the  Deaconess,  an  experienced 
worker,  and  gathered  about  her  a  group 
of  ten  friendly  visitors,  a  lawyer,  and 
several  physicians  and  dentists.  This 
Council  has  met  fortnightly  for  several 
years,  sitting  in  council  on  the  problems 
of  poor  relief,  with  particular  emphasis 
upon  the  reconstruction  of  dependent 
homes.  It  has  gradually  learned  to  do 
nothing  which  people  can  do  for  them- 
selves; to  seek  for  its  people  better  em- 
ployment, better  housing,  and  to  recon- 
struct homes  that  are  submerged  by 
drunkenness;  to  assist  in  the  education 
of  children  and  in  securing  employment 
when  they  must  enter  industry. 

The  standards  of  the  Associated  Chari- 
ties, with  its  system  of  records,  were  set 
up,  a  loan  fund  was  created,  and  a  system 
of  financing  established.  All  cases  are 
telephoned  down  to  the  Associated  Chari- 

[41] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

ties  for  registration  and  no  new  cases  are 
taken  up  without  getting  information 
about  the  same  from  the  registration 
bureau.  The  Council  has  also  kept  in 
close  touch  with  the  Welfare  department 
of  the  city  government,  both  to  avoid  du- 
plication and  to  receive  and  give  assist- 
ance, for  no  church  can  work  alone.  This 
affiliation  was  gradually  extended  to  a 
wide  circle  of  institutions  in  the  city, — 
hospitals,  Juvenile  Court,  Humane  So- 
ciety, Visiting  Nurse  Association,  Legal 
Aid  Society,  and  child  caring  institutions. 
The  plan  has  worked  so  well  that  it  has 
become  permanent.  It  has,  I  think,  con- 
tributed to  lighten  the  burden  of  the  city's 
need  which  falls  very  heavily  upon  its 
present  charity  organization.  We  have 
limited  ourselves  rather  strictly  to  our 
own  congregation,  and  have  as  a  rule 
referred   all  transients  down-town.     But 

[42] 


ORGANIZED  CHARITIES 

the  work  has  inevitably  broadened  into 
the  neighborhood  until  in  matters  of  em- 
ployment, sickness,  kindness  to  the  aged, 
and  relief,  the  church  has  worked  as  a 
true  neighborhood  organization.  But  all 
has  been  kept  in  the  most  careful  coopera- 
tion with  the  city,  particularly  with  the 
Associated  Charities,  and  it  has  been  coin- 
cident with  the  most  loyal  support,  often 
amounting  to  campaigning,  for  these 
great  charities. 

These  activities  have  been  a  blessing 
to  the  church  as  well  as  to  the  families 
involved.  They  have  opened  fountains 
of  love,  aroused  a  sense  of  duty  toward 
the  unfortunate,  brought  a  realization  of 
the  broader  program  of  Christianity,  and 
served  to  interpret  anew  the  works  of 
mercy  which  have  so  great  a  place  in  the 
narratives  of  the  Gospels. 

[43] 


VIII 

A  NEW  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  CITY 
AUTHORITIES 

/^NE  of  the  discouraging  features  of 
^^  American  institutions  has  been  a 
very  general  loss  of  confidence  in  munici- 
pal government  and  want  of  respect  for 
local  authorities.  This  sentiment  is  as 
pronounced  in  villages  and  towns  as  in 
cities,  where  so  often  corruption  and 
incompetence  have  gone  to  shameless 
lengths.  Suspicion  of  public  officials  has 
been  deepened  by  the  unfairness  of  the 
sensational  press,  and  by  the  continual 
criticism  of  opposition  speakers  and  news- 
papers. Few  newspapers  at  the  time  of 
an  election  ever  attempt  to  give  their 
readers  unbiased  statements  of  facts  about 

[44] 


CITY  AUTHORITIES 


public  officials.  The  same  may  also  be 
said  of  campaign  speakers. 

While  such  an  attitude  toward  local 
government  has  not  been  without  cause 
nor  without  long  and  bitter  experience 
of  misrule,  it  is  no  longer  justified  by- 
present  conditions.  A  transformation  is 
in  progress  in  American  cities  which  is 
making  for  honesty  and  efficiency,  and 
is  giving  to  the  people  a  powerful  instru- 
ment for  their  own  advancement.  The 
continuance  of  partizan  attacks  upon  offi- 
cials and  of  unfair  and  violent  newspaper 
agitation  is  now  retarding  the  progress  of 
efficient  government. 

The  church  also  has  been  caught  up  in 
a  general  spirit  of  denunciation.  The 
prevailing  attitude  of  the  pulpit  and  of 
ministers'  meetings  for  a  generation  has 
been  non-cooperative  and  critical,  often  to 
the  point  of  censoriousness.    Many  evan- 

[45] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

gelists  have  been  gravely  at  fault  in  this 
particular  in  that  they  have  sought  to 
draw  their  crowds  in  the  beginning  of 
their  meetings  by  sensational  attacks  upon 
city  officials. 

The  pulpit  must  be  courageous  and  it 
must  reserve  its  right  to  publicity  and  de- 
nunciation. But  that  right  is  won  by  citi- 
zenship and  by  participation  in  public 
affairs,  and  it  does  not  exist  for  men  who 
have  been  in  a  city  for  a  week.  It  is  to 
be  held  in  reserve  and  not  used  indis- 
criminately. The  policy  for  the  future, 
as  the  government  of  our  municipalities 
is  rising  in  honesty,  efficiency,  and  com- 
prehension of  the  people's  needs,  is  a 
constructive  policy  of  sympathy,  co- 
operation, and  the  preaching  of  a  new 
citizenship. 

I  made  up  my  mind  when  I  came  to 
Cleveland   to   follow   such   a   policy:    to 

C46] 


CITY  AUTHORITIES 


get  into  personal  touch  with  city  officials, 
to  try  to  understand  their  problems,  to  be 
patient,  and  to  make  of  my  church  a 
cooperative  force  whenever  I  was  con- 
vinced that  officials  were  working  con- 
scientiously and  intelligently  for  the 
public  good. 

It  seemed  to  me  also  that  where  offi- 
cials most  need  help  is  in  the  extension 
of  the  machinery  of  government  to  do 
greater  things  for  the  people  at  large,  and 
in  fighting  against  entrenched  privilege. 
Here  the  churches  are  most  often  led 
astray,  for  the  upper  classes  are  usually 
suspicious  of  what  the  body  of  the  people 
demand.  Three-cent  fare,  three-cent 
light,  farmers'  markets,  popularized  re- 
creation, look  differently  to  a  workingman 
than  to  many  of  the  people  who  go  to 
the  better-class  churches. 

These  principles  led  me  to  support  a 

[47] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

local  administration  representing  a  party 
with  which  I  had  never  previously  voted, 
and  to  stand  by  the  same  administration 
through  a  storm  of  criticism.  I  have  al- 
ways been  careful  about  bringing  political 
matters  into  my  pulpit,  and  about  making 
public  statements  of  a  controversial  char- 
acter. It  has  not  been  necessary  in  order 
to  let  my  position  become  known  and  to 
exercise  whatever  influence  I  possessed. 

An  influential  group  of  ministers  and 
laymen  have  stood  for  these  principles  in 
the  Federated  Churches  and  in  the  Min- 
isters' Union  of  the  city,  and  against  cru- 
sading societies.  In  matters  involving 
the  authorities  they  have  sought  thorough 
information  and  a  fair  and  amicable  ap- 
proach, reserving  publicity  as  a  last  re- 
sort. 

We  have  also  done  our  best  at  Epworth 
to  interest  our  people  in  public  questions, 

[48] 


CITY  AUTHORITIES 


to  stimulate  pride  in  the  city,  to  campaign 
for  important  improvements,  and  to  keep 
the  congregation  informed,  particularly 
upon  the  development  of  the  welfare 
work  of  the  city  government.  In  doing 
this  large  use  has  been  made  of  the  Ep- 
worth  Outlook,  so  that  it  has  not  been 
necessary  to  burden  the  pulpit  with  these 
affairs. 

With  regard  to  other  civic  questions, 
such  as  the  budget,  control  of  vice,  public 
health,  conduct  of  departments,  and  the 
relation  of  the  city  to  the  public  utilities 
and  private  corporations,  the  church  has 
worked  with  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
or  with  the  Associated  Charities,  or  with 
special  organizations  like  the  Civic 
League,  rather  than  singly.  It  would 
seem  presumptuous  for  an  individual 
church  to  assume  such  large  functions. 


[49] 


IX 

COMMUNITY  CAMPAIGNS 

^  I  ^HE  previous  chapters  suggest  the 
■^  large  possible  value  of  the  Church 
for  the  formation  of  public  opinion  and 
in  campaigns  for  great  social  objects, 
such  as  the  Peace  Movement;  a  day  of  rest 
in  seven;  the  purposes  of  the  Consumers' 
League;  the  fight  against  tuberculosis; 
agitation  for  public  welfare  institutions, 
such  as  playgrounds;  and  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  foreign  sections  of  the  city. 

The  significance  of  the  power  of  the 
Church  is  illustrated  by  the  religious  sit- 
uation in  Cleveland.  With  a  population 
approximating  six  hundred  thousand,  the 
city  has  two  hundred  and  sixty  Protestant 
churches   with    a   membership    of   about 

[50] 


COMMUNITY  CAMPAIGNS 

ninety  thousand,  and  a  much  larger  circle 
of  adherents.  Their  parishes  cover  the 
city  completely  and  their  buildings  are  in 
the  center  of  every  neighborhood.  They 
are  also  organized  bodies  of  people, 
trained  to  think  and  act  together. 

In  addition  to  the  Protestant  churches 
there  is  a  powerful  Jewish  religious  or- 
ganization with  many  synagogues,  and  a 
very  strong  and  highly  organized  Roman 
Catholic  population.  All  these  religious 
bodies  in  Cleveland  are  gradually  finding 
a  certain  point  of  contact.  These  churches 
represent  a  great  actual  and  a  greater 
possible  influence  for  social  and  religious 
movements,  for  creating  public  sentiment, 
for  striking  at  social  dangers,  for  arous- 
ing the  citizenship  of  a  community. 

The  realization  of  this  function  of  the 
church  is  rapidly  dawning  upon  the 
world.     It  led  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  to 

[51] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

create  a  Peace  foundation  of  $2,000,000 
to  work  for  international  peace  through 
the  churches.  It  has  flooded  pulpits  with 
requests  for  assistance  in  public  cam- 
paigns and  for  the  setting  aside  of  days 
to  be  observed  in  the  interest  of  important 
causes. 

I  made  use  of  my  pulpit  and  my  church 
paper  for  such  purposes  as  soon  as  I  had 
been  in  the  city  long  enough  to  get  my 
points  of  contact,  to  know  where  to  strike, 
and  what  to  do.  I  began  to  turn  the  at- 
tention of  the  congregation  to  important 
movements;  to  the  exhibitions  of  the 
School  of  Art,  to  university  addresses 
and  courses,  and  slowly  brought  my  or- 
ganizations into  cooperation  with  cam- 
paigns such  as  have  been  mentioned. 

But  a  single  church  cannot  have  com- 
manding influence  in  such  matters:  they 
are  so  great  and  difficult,  and  involve  the 

[52] 


COMMUNITY  CAMPAIGNS 

awakening  of  such  masses  of  people. 
Churches  must  be  federated,  and  their 
federations  in  cities  must  have  salaried 
officers  and  well-appointed  offices.  To 
strengthen  the  connectional  organizations 
of  the  denominations  in  a  city  and  to 
unite  these  in  a  compact  federated  force 
become  matters  of  first  importance  and  a 
true  community  service. 

Our  relations  with  the  Federated 
Churches  have  been  intimate  from  the 
beginning.  The  organizing  committee 
held  its  sessions  in  our  building  and  the 
pastor  was  its  first  Vice-President  and 
second  President.  We  have  done  every- 
thing in  our  power  to  strengthen  the  or- 
ganization, to  back  it  up  financially,  and 
to  give  it  support. 

I  have  pushed  the  strength  of  my  peo- 
ple into  these  activities  and  into  the  con- 
nectional work  of  my  communion  some- 

[53] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

times  almost  to  the  breaking  point.  They 
have  taken  some  of  our  best  workers  and 
have  drawn  heavily  upon  the  financial 
resources  of  the  congregation.  I  have 
done  this  because  the  need  has  been  so 
great,  and  because  I  am  convinced  that 
in  no  other  way  can  the  church  approxi- 
mate the  devotion  of  the  Apostolic 
Church,  or  Christians  themselves  rise  into 
the  largeness  and  power  of  real  disciple- 
ship  to  Christ. 

The  recognition  of  the  value  of  the 
Church  in  the  agitation  of  public  ques- 
tions, and  in  campaigns  for  social  objects, 
is  coming  so  rapidly  that  our  pulpits  are 
already  overwhelmed  with  appeals  for  the 
observance  of  Sundays  devoted  to  par- 
ticular causes,  and  for  the  presentation  of 
other  causes. 

I  have  found  it  necessary  to  protect 
the  hours  of  public  worship  against  un- 

[54] 


COMMUNITY  CAMPAIGNS 

due  interference  from  outside  causes,  and 
the  congregation  from  the  danger  of  too 
many  appeals.  We  have  given  the  ser- 
mon period  to  a  selected  number  of  the 
most  important  causes,  but  have  resorted 
more  and  more  to  the  use  of  our  church 
paper  and  to  brief  statements  from  the 
pulpit.  Every  good  cause  has  had  our 
sympathy  and  as  many  as  possible  our  ac- 
tive support. 


[55] 


X 


THE  CHURCH  AND  ITS  NEIGHBOR- 
HOOD 

A  DISTINCTION  may  be  made  be- 
tween the  community  relations  of 
a  church  with  the  city  at  large  and  with 
its  own  neighborhood,  although  the  two 
overlap.  The  former  are  largely  insti- 
tutional, the  latter  more  intimate  and  per- 
sonal. 

The  ideal  which  has  inspired  the  work 
at  Epworth  has  been  the  parish  ideal, 
that  is,  a  church  which  ministers  to  its 
entire  neighborhood  instead  of  to  unre- 
lated people  scattered  over  a  wide  area. 
In  its  completeness  it  is  an  impossible 
ideal  under  modern  conditions,  even  if 
there  were  no  competing  churches  in  the 
[S6] 


NEIGHBORHOOD 


same  territory;  and  it  would  of  course 
be  presumptuous  for  any  church  to  as- 
sume an  attitude  of  exclusive  responsibil- 
ity for  its  parish,  territorially.  But  the 
spirit  of  a  parish  church  may  nevertheless 
be  carried  out  with  effectiveness  and  with 
entire  brotherliness. 

In  developing  our  neighborhood  work 
at  Epworth  we  have  extended  our  services 
of  public  worship,  our  Sunday-school  fa- 
cilities, our  club  activities,  and  the  social 
opportunities  of  our  societies  to  the  peo- 
ple about  us  with  friendly  aggressiveness. 
We  have  done  this  partly  by  publicity  but 
mainly  by  organized  methods,  especially 
by  heavy  parish  visitation. 

For  example,  within  the  last  few  years 
the  number  of  boarding  and  rooming 
houses  about  the  church  has  increased 
very  rapidly.  This  has  brought  into  the 
parish  large  numbers  of  young  men  and 

[57] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

women,  who  have  come  to  Cleveland  from 
other  cities  and  towns.  Their  home  life 
is  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  boarding- 
house,  and  we  discovered  to  our  surprise 
that  in  many  instances  young  women  had 
no  use  of  parlors  in  which  to  receive  call- 
ers. On  Sunday  evening  meals  are  sel- 
dom served,  and  on  this  the  happiest  day 
back  in  the  old  home  they  are  very  much 
alone. 

We  finally  decided  to  open  the  Friend- 
ship room  late  Sunday  afternoons  under 
the  direction  of  the  young  people's  so- 
ciety, and  to  serve  a  light  supper  at  half 
past  five  preceding  the  young  people's 
meeting.  This  plan  took  from  the  be- 
ginning. From  one  hundred  to  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  young  people  come  together 
every  Sunday  during  the  busy  season. 
The  league  officials  have  carefully  or- 
ganized the  matter  of  acquaintance,  and 
[S8] 


Mi^/ 


''IP 


A 


/ 


Kilt    } 

KKrpi\' 

a    r-     i  S       \  ; 


NEIGHBORHOOD 


the  staff  has  seen  that  older  members  of 
the  church  were  always  present.  These 
social  hours  have  been  happy  and  above 
criticism,  and  they  well  illustrate  the 
type  of  social  work  undertaken  by  the 
church. 

We  have  now  from  three  to  four  hun- 
dred families  having  no  connection  with 
the  church  excepting  that  their  children 
are  in  its  clubs  and  Sunday-school  classes. 
As  an  indication  of  its  wider  reach,  the 
church,  with  a  membership  of  sixteen 
hundred,  has  twenty-seven  hundred  dif- 
ferent persons  in  its  organizations,  and  a 
thousand  and  more  besides  who  make  it 
their  religious  center.  Forty  per  cent, 
of  the  members  of  the  Men's  Club  are 
outside  the  church. 

Amongst  these  associates  are  a  number 
of  Roman  Catholics  and  Jews.  Their 
presence  raised  a  serious  question:  should 

[59] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

we  change  the  character  of  the  work  so  as 
not  to  offend  these  people?  After  serious 
conference  it  was  decided  that  we  must 
keep  the  church  free  for  its  highest  work, 
that  we  must  maintain  a  broad  but  earnest 
Protestant  type  of  church,  absolutely  un- 
trammeled  to  do  the  most  vigorous  Chris- 
tian teaching.  To  compromise  the  pos- 
sibility of  doing  this  in  order  to  furnish 
social  center  activities  to  a  few  persons, 
seemed  a  betrayal  of  trust.  Jewish  and 
Roman  Catholic  children  have  been  wel- 
comed, but  with  the  understanding  that 
the  church  is  to  be  free,  that  they  are  to 
take  the  common  instruction,  but  that 
the  church  will  be  respectful  of  their 
rights  and  convictions.  We  have  never 
had  trouble  in  carrying  out  this  policy. 

In  determining  what  to  undertake  for 
the  good  of  the  neighborhood,  we  have 
been  guided  by  a  few  simple  principles; 

[60] 


NEIGHBORHOOD 


to  study  the  needs  of  the  people  around 
us;  to  do  nothing  that  is  being  well  done 
by  another  organization  when  that  or- 
ganization meets  the  need  of  the  neigh- 
borhood ;  to  be  brotherly,  especially  where 
there  is  inevitable  competition  due  to  the 
presence  of  two  or  more  churches  minis- 
tering to  the  same  territory.  We  have 
established  no  day  nursery  because  the 
Lend-a-Hand  Mission,  a  few  blocks  east 
of  us,  has  an  excellent  nursery.  We  have 
no  night  schools  on  account  of  the  close 
proximity  of  Central  High  with  its  pub- 
lic night  schools,  and  of  the  Young  Men's 
and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associa- 
tions. 

We  have  given  special  attention  to  the 
development  of  the  church  as  a  neighbor- 
hood social  center.  We  have  done  this 
because  it  is  a  natural  expression  of  the 
Christian  spirit,  because  it  is  a  great  way 
[6i] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

to  build  a  modern  church,  because  it  is 
one  of  the  highest  services  that  a  church 
can  give  to  the  people  coming  to  a  great 
city,  because  a  church  building  might 
better  be  used  for  happy  gatherings  of  the 
people  than  to  lie  idle,  and  because  abun- 
dant and  wholesome  recreation  is  one 
of  the  most  pressing  needs  of  large  cities. 
Two  years  ago  the  first  floor  of  the 
church  was  rebuilt  at  a  cost  of  $45,000 
to  provide  a  series  of  social  and  recrea- 
tional rooms.  These  are  arranged  in 
suites  with  intervening  hall,  store  room, 
and  machinery  room,  so  as  to  allow  sev- 
eral events  to  be  held  at  the  same  time. 
They  include  in  the  social  rooms,  a  spa- 
cious and  beautiful  dining-room.  Friend- 
ship room,  library,  kitchen,  serving  room, 
and  retiring  rooms;  on  the  recreational 
side,  gymnasium,  den,  athletic  office, 
showers,  and  locker  rooms  for  both  sexes. 

[62] 


NEIGHBORHOOD 


We  have  paid  little  attention  to  simply- 
opening  rooms  to  the  public,  but  have 
thrown  all  our  power  into  organized  ac- 
tivities. It  has  seemed  better  to  take  peo- 
ple into  regular  activities  rather  than 
into  groups  classified  by  employment  or 
social  position.  For  example,  instead  of 
having  a  working  girls'  club,  we  put 
working  girls  into  mixed  societies  and 
organized  Sunday-school  classes,  where 
their  identity  as  working  girls  is  lost  in 
a  larger  fellowship. 

The  Associate  Pastor  found  a  family 
about  a  year  ago  who  had  become  badly 
disorganized  and  discouraged.  They 
knew  nobody  and  were  very  much  alone, 
and  the  effect  had  been  to  dishearten 
them.  They  were  brought  into  the  church 
and  the  various  members  of  the  family 
placed  in  organizations.  The  effect  was 
almost  magical.     They   began    to    dress 

[63] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

neatly  again,  they  became  very  much  at 
home,  and  they  were  to  be  observed  in 
the  morning  services  greeting  their  new 
friends  with  manifest  pride. 

Work  of  this  sort  after  a  while  grows 
of  itself  by  an  inner  spirit.  It  has  filled 
the  church  with  ministries  of  friendship, 
and  has  led  out  into  unusual  forms  of 
service.  We  have  gradually  come  to 
have  a  watchful  eye  over  saloons,  billiard 
halls,  places  of  public  amusement,  houses 
of  call,  within  the  parish.  We  are  be- 
ginning agitation  for  a  public  playground 
and  branch  library  for  the  neighborhood. 
The  library  might  be  had  at  once  if  room 
could  be  found  for  it  in  the  church  build- 
ing. 

The  church  in  much  the  same  spirit  be- 
gan to  seek  employment  for  those  out  of 
work.  In  times  of  unusual  idleness  the 
Charities  Council  has  formed  the  custom 

[64] 


NEIGHBORHOOD 


of  calling  up  homes  and  offices  of  the 
people  asking  casual  work,  sufficient  to 
keep  its  own  unemployed  at  work  for 
three  or  four  days  of  the  week,  until  times 
are  better.  But  under  ordinary  industrial 
conditions  there  is  always  much  tempo- 
rary unemployment;  and  so  gradually, 
without  ever  establishing  a  bureau,  we 
have  made  connections  with  factories,  of- 
fices, and  stores,  and  have  been  able  to 
place  a  large  number  of  people  every 
year. 

The  way  in  which  such  work  grows  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  calls  are  frequently 
coming  in  for  workers,  and  we  have  been 
able  often  to  better  our  own  young  people 
by  opening  new  positions.  Such  work 
also  soon  goes  beyond  the  limit  of  a  con- 
gregation out  into  the  neighborhood,  and 
often  people  come  to  us  from  distant  parts 
of  the  city.     We  desire  to  restrict  our- 

[65] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

selves  to  our  own  parish,  but  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  help  men  in  distress. 

When  the  new  city  charter  was  up  for 
adoption,  the  Men's  Club,  at  my  sugges- 
tion, held  a  neighborhood  meeting  on  a 
green  near  the  church,  at  which  the  reg- 
ular charter  speakers  explained  its  pro- 
visions. This  led  later  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  monthly  Community  Service  on 
Sunday  evenings;  this  to  a  class  in  the 
Sunday-school  on  community  problems; 
and  this  to  a  determination  to  make  the 
church  a  center  for  the  discussion  of 
civic  problems  for  the  citizenship  of  the 
ward. 

The  first  Community  Service  was  very 
interesting.  The  Associate  Pastor,  Mr. 
Shattuck,  who  directs  the  neighborhood 
activities  of  the  church  and  its  visitation, 
had  made  a  survey  of  the  territory  about 
the  church,  and  reported  it  to  the  meet- 
[66] 


NEIGHBORHOOD 


ing.  He  gave  all  sorts  of  interesting 
facts  and  followed  with  specific  recom- 
mendations. Successive  meetings  have 
taken  up  control  of  vice  from  the  point 
of  view  of  children  and  young  people, 
the  housing  situation  in  Cleveland,  and 
the  provisions  of  the  new  housing  code. 
The  objective  of  these  meetings  is  to  bring 
Protestant,  Roman  Catholic,  Jew,  and 
non-Christian  together  for  the  considera- 
tion of  common  problems. 

The  plan  for  the  education  of  the 
electorate  in  citizenship  began  with  a 
series  of  patriotic  meetings  held  for  seven 
successive  Sunday  afternoons  beginning 
with  Easter  of  1914.  Their  purpose  was 
to  arouse  the  patriotism  of  the  young  peo- 
ple by  bringing  before  them  the  issues 
of  and  sacrifices  of  the  Civil  War.  Well- 
known  veterans  of  that  war  were  brought 
to  Cleveland   from  various  parts  of  the 

[67] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

nation,  and  the  church  was  packed  with 
great  audiences  to  listen  to  them.  These 
meetings  were  financed  and  directed  by 
one  of  the  laymen  of  the  church,  Mr. 
Frank  M.  Gregg,  who  is  also  working 
with  me  at  the  plans  for  the  Community 
Night  Services  next  year.  It  is  expected 
to  make  these  meetings  centers  for  the 
discussion  of  municipal  problems,  with 
particular  emphasis  upon  information. 
Where  subjects  are  of  too  controversial  a 
character  to  bring  into  the  evening  serv- 
ice special  meetings  will  be  held  on  week- 
day evenings. 

Such  movements  go  slowly  because  of 
prejudice  against  the  Church  and  because 
of  the  divided  condition  of  American  citi- 
zenship, but  the  difficulties  are  gradually 
giving  way  before  a  sustained  and  public- 
spirited  policy. 

[68] 


XI 

PUBLIC  MORALITY 

r^OUBTLESS  every  pastor  has  the 
^^  experience  of  living  in  the  presence 
of  great  facts  day  by  day,  but  yet  not 
realizing  their  true  significance;  until 
some  day  he  awakens  to  them  suddenly. 
They  have  long  been  forming  themselves 
subconsciously,  until  finally  they  emerge 
full-formed  into  consciousness,  carrying 
with  them  a  sense  of  newness  and  sur- 
prise. 

Two  years  ago  I  began  to  sense  keenly 
the  positive  need  of  lifting  the  standards 
of  public  morality  of  the  city,  particu- 
larly as  related  to  young  people.  This 
was  forced  upon  my  attention  in  many 
ways  but  in  particular  by  two  experiences. 

[69] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

The  first  was  a  long  first-hand  study  of 
the  problems  of  illegitimacy,  desertion, 
divorce,  and  neglected  children  through 
membership  on  the  Children's  Committee 
of  the  Humane  Society.  The  second  also 
came  gradually,  and  mainly  by  observing 
young  people  on  street-cars  and  inter- 
urbans  on  my  way  back  and  forth  from 
the  city  to  my  country  home  by  the  lake. 
In  each  of  these  experiences  there  was 
observable  an  alarming  amount  of  irre- 
sponsibility, looseness,  and  lax  moral 
habits,  and  in  the  latter  of  unembarrassed 
freedom  in  the  presence  of  passengers 
which  meant  an  unquestioned  repetition 
of  the  experiences  of  the  Humane  Society. 
Then,  too,  business  men  kept  saying  to 
me,  "  Young  people  are  not  as  dependable 
as  they  used  to  be.  They  lack  ambition 
and  a  high  sense  of  honor.  They  look 
for  advances  in  salary  and  wages  without 

[70] 


PUBLIC  MORALITY 


any  corresponding  desire  to  render  serv- 
ice." Among  my  own  young  people  I 
found  a  good  many  who  proved  out  badly 
when  positions   were   secured   for   them. 

It  finally  came  to  me  almost  as  a  shock, 
that  back  of  these  phenomena  lies  a  great 
problem  of  moral  education;  that  upon  no 
institution  does  the  responsibility  for  this 
education  rest  more  heavily  than  upon 
the  church;  that  we  are  not  measuring  up 
to  this  social  obligation  in  the  large  way 
which  is  easily  possible. 

As  I  examined  my  own  work  I  became 
conscious  that  we  were  failing  largely  to 
realize  the  New  Testament  emphasis 
upon  the  plainest  kind  of  moral  teaching. 
So  I  began  to  recast  my  pulpit  teaching 
and  to  carry  a  stronger  ethical  instruction 
into  the  Sunday-school  and  into  clubs  for 
boys  and  girls.  At  the  same  time  we  un- 
dertook   to    organize    a    more    thorough 

[71] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

shepherding  of  our  young  people.  We 
began  asking  teachers  to  become  real  pas- 
tors of  their  little  flocks,  to  go  into  the 
homes  of  their  pupils,  to  know  when  they 
pass  through  moral  crises,  and  thus  to 
keep  in  touch  with  them  week  by  week. 

We  shall  not  subordinate  the  spiritual 
to  the  moral,  but  we  shall  henceforth  un- 
dertake to  send  into  the  city  a  stream  of 
young  people  who  are  morally  instructed 
and  disciplined,  and  who  are  ambitious, 
dependable,  God-fearing,  and  prepared 
for  citizenship. 

That  I  conceive  to  be  one  of  the 
church's  highest  community  functions. 
And  when  one  considers  the  machinery 
and  strategic  location  of  the  churches  of 
every  city,  and  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
young  people  who  are  committed  to  them 
for  religious  instruction  over  a  long  period 
of    years,    one    is    convinced    that    once 

[72] 


PUBLIC  MORALITY 


aroused  and  united,  the  churches  are 
strong  enough  to  change  the  moral  atmos- 
pheres of  their  communities  within  a 
reasonable  period  of  years. 


[73] 


XII 

AFTERWORD 

T)EOPLE  sometimes  ask  me,  as  I  go 
^  about  speaking  before  congregations 
which  are  starting  out  on  a  program  of 
broader  social  work,  Do  these  forms  of 
social  service  result  in  drawing  people  to 
the  church  and  into  its  membership? 

The  question  is  more  legitimate  than 
may  appear  at  first  glance,  for  a  church 
which  loves  its  community  and  works  for 
its  interest  ought  in  turn  to  be  attractive 
to  the  community.  Such  is  the  truth. 
One  answers  the  question,  first,  by  say- 
ing that  community  relations,  as  other 
forms  of  social  service,  are  worth  while 
in  themselves,  and  are  a  bounden  duty 
of  the  church.    It  may  easily  be  that  the 

[74] 


AFTERWORD 


church  must  undertake  certain  great 
pieces  of  work  with  a  sacrificial  spirit, 
realizing  that  it  will  lose  and  not  gain. 

But  the  experience  of  these  nine  years 
have  been  that  a  community  spirit  and 
neighborly  parish  work  add  greatly  to 
the  church's  influence.  Epworth  Memo- 
rial is  crowded  with  young  life  and  is 
almost  uniformly  strong  in  the  propor- 
tions of  each  age  and  sex.  We  have  not 
failed  to  receive  persons  into  the  church 
a  single  Sunday  for  now  nearly  three 
years.  Five  churches  have  moved  out  of 
the  neighborhood  in  the  last  four  years, 
but  Epworth  had  a  net  gain  in  191 3  of 
147,  and  received  a  total  of  247  persons 
into  its  fellowship.  These  results  are  to 
be  accounted  for  in  the  main  perhaps  by 
other  activities  of  the  church, — notably  by 
its  Sunday-school,  its  parish  visitation, 
and  its  services  of  public  worship, — but 

[75] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

the  social  spirit  and  work  of  the  church 
have  been  heavy  factors. 

One  has  another  conviction,  however, 
with  regard  to  community  relations.  It 
is,  that  to  have  a  community  spirit  and 
to  work  cooperatively  with  public  offi- 
cials and  social  agencies  is  the  peculiar 
glory  and  power  of  Protestantism. 

Its  point  of  view  makes  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  a  non-cooperative  body. 
It  is  in  a  large  sense  a  community  within 
a  community:  secretive,  unsympathetic  to 
public  education,  exclusive  with  regard 
to  other  religious  bodies,  and  subject  to 
suspicion  from  the  public  on  account  of 
its  attitude.  In  most  parliaments  of 
Europe,  those  of  Roman  Catholic  as  well 
as  non-Catholic  countries,  it  is  a  dissonant 
factor;  this  along  with  all  the  splendid 
and  immense  religious  and  social  work 
which  it  carries  forward. 

[76] 


AFTERWORD 


But  Protestantism  stands  for  freedom, 
for  openness,  for  public  education,  for 
the  institutions  of  democracy,  for  co- 
operation and  social  sympathy.  If  we 
can  maintain  this  spirit,  if  we  can  break 
away  from  temptations  to  selfishness 
and  religious  isolation,  if  we  can  mix  up 
with  publicans  and  sinners,  if  we  can 
be  courageous  and  straightforward,  as 
was  our  Master,  we  shall  have  the  fu- 
ture. In  the  turmoil  of  the  social  revo- 
lution which  is  upon  us  we  shall  be  a 
constructive  force  of  inestimable  value. 

If  some  minister  who  feels  himself  in- 
experienced were  to  ask  where  to  begin 
and  how  to  proceed  in  extending  the 
community  relations  of  his  church,  I 
should  answer  that  there  is  no  set  pro- 
gram to  follow.  Every  neighborhood  has 
its  own  problems  and  every  church  its 
peculiar  spirit,  its  way  of  doing  things, 

[77] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

its  reserve  power.  I  should  go  to  work 
taking  whatever  offered  itself;  for  when 
one  goes  to  work  he  soon  knows  what  to 
do.  I  should  study  my  own  neighbor- 
hood carefully  and  the  possibilities  of  my 
own  church. 

In  a  larger  community  I  should  begin 
with  the  Associated  Charities  and  Wel- 
fare departments  of  the  city  government, 
and  should  work  out  from  these.  In  the 
neighborhood,  I  should  begin  by  pushing 
out  my  standard  activities — services  of 
public  worship,  Sunday-school,  parish 
visitation — with  an  unsectarian  and  neigh- 
borly spirit;  and  I  should  then  develop 
club  activities,  charities,  employment, 
ministries  of  kindness,  recreational  and 
social  features,  according  to  the  need  of 
the  neighborhood  and  the  resources  of 
my  congregation.  I  should  do  big  things 
first  and  I  should  not  be  in  a  hurry  nor 

[78] 


AFTERWORD 


over-ambitious,  for  such  work  matures 
slowly  and  requires  an  extended  program 
for  its  greatest  power. 

Pastors  of  small  congregations  with 
limited  resources,  particularly  inexperi- 
enced pastors,  may  be  tempted  to  say: 
Such  a  program  is  possible  to  a  powerful 
city  church,  but  it  is  not  for  me  and 
my  congregation.  But  if  such  men  will 
consider  carefully,  they  will  perceive  that 
they  are  mistaken.  Experience  comes 
from  work  and  study,  and  there  is  always 
one  price  to  pay  for  that.  The  size  of 
the  church  and  its  location  have  little 
to  do  with  its  community  relations,  ex- 
cept in  the  magnitude  of  what  is  accom- 
plished. The  open  country,  the  village, 
the  rural  town,  the  small  city,  are  as  rich 
fields  for  community  service  as  the  large 
city;  sometimes  far  richer,  on  account 
of   the   frequent   backwardness    of    social 

[79] 


A  COMMUNITY  FORCE 

organization  in  such  places.  It  is  fun- 
damentally a  question  of  the  interest  of 
a  given  church  and  its  pastor  in  the  wel- 
fare of  their  community  and  of  their  will- 
ingness to  work.  The  program  of  the 
smaller  church  may  not  be  so  extensive — 
it  will  be  necessarily  modified  to  suit  dif- 
ferent circumstances — but  the  essential 
work  to  be  done  is  as  possible  to  the 
small  as  to  the  large  church. 

One  who  is  familiar  with  what  is  be- 
ing accomplished  in  this  field  knows  also 
that  a  vast  amount  of  fine  social  work  is 
being  done  outside  of  big  cities.  Two 
of  the  most  perfect  examples  of  com- 
munity service  that  I  have  ever  known 
are  in  the  open  country — at  South  Athol, 
Massachusetts,  and  in  the  town  of  Lin- 
coln, New  Hampshire,  far  up  in  the 
White  Mountains. 

[80] 


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